Buy new or hire a man & Van?

Swirls

Hi,
I hope this is the right place
I'm starting a new fixed term contract job Monday, and travelling around 3 hours away by public transport to meet my new landlord for a bedsit with kitchenette I'm renting tomorrow. I'm initially staying in a smaller room in the property for a couple of weeks until the room I'm actually renting is finished.
I don't drive and nor does anyone in my family, the cheapest quote that I've had for a man and van is £120 which I'd likely have to arrange for a few weeks time when my room is ready ( unless he's able to do tomorrow..).
Trouble is aside from a few luxury items items like my games console and DVDs, I'm not sure if the items I have are really worth that much, my utensils, duvet etc are all argos value etc, I can only take by hand what I can physically carry onto a train. I can leave what I have here with no problem since I've been staying at my parents place.
Is it worth just shelling out for a man and van and getting it over and done with? Or would it be cheaper do you think to just buy the basics again when I move in, then bring stuff back each time when I visit my family?
My new job is paying toward my moving costs, but the amount is less than the deposit I have to pay. Should I see the deposit as a cost or not? since I hopefully will get it back at the end.
I'll likely have to move again if this contract expires and there's no work so the cost of that is lurking in the back of my mind. Though there is a chance of renewal which could take the contract to a year +
Any ideas?

mrcol1000

If your moving around then your probably best just buying this stuff. If you're not bothered about getting expensive stuff if you check out Argos and Asda they have the stuff dead cheap. Check on-line. Work out what you need and add it up. Also whenever you move somewhere you realise you need this and that so buy new stuff anyway. Second hand shops especially charity shops and Cash Convertors type places are a goldmine for cheap normally good quality items. You can always sell it all back to Cash Convertors when you move again and get a bit cash back. Also remember its not just the £120 you spend now. It's the money your'll spend moving it all again.

mrcol1000

Also the other possiblity is checking out cheap parcel brokers. They do parcels through DHL, Citylink etc... much cheaper than going to them direct. www.parcelmonkey.com is one such one. May be much cheaper to send a few boxes to yourself than paying a man with a van to go there and come back and his time.

Scho

Don't you have any friends who could help you out at all? As long as you offer to pay fuel costs and maybe feed them given it's a minimum 6 hour round trip I'm sure they wouldn't mind? Plus it would be a lot cheaper than hiring a bloke and a van for the day.

SilverSix

If you have as little stuff to take as you say you do could you not just cram it in to suitcases and then pay for a family member or friends return travel so that they can accompany you on the journey and help cart your stuff around. Got to be cheaper than a man & van surely?

dacouch

Be careful of Man and Vans as there are a few dodgy ones who will quote you a low price and then hit you for extra money part the way through the job.

Moving you a three hour drive will take him roughly 30 minutes to load up, 3 hours or more to drive there, 20 mins or so to unload and then 3 hours or more to drive back. The diesel for a van on what I guess is a 350+ mile round trip will be upwards of £65 depending how quickly / slowly they drive (If they drive at 70mph+ the fuel could easily be over £100 in fuel) and it's in effect nearly a whole days drive.

Sublime_2

I moved into temporary accomodation a couple of times last year, and decided it would be cheaper/ easier to keep my stuff in storage and buy value range bedding, cooking utensils etc.

I was lucky as I got a lift on both occasions, so was able to take most of my clothes, cds, music players, some books etc with me. I would see if you can get a friend to come with you to help cart your consoles, clothing, etc over.

Good luck.

I recommend Argos, and Wilkinsons for great value (but nice) basics.

Swirls

Sadly most of my friends can't drive, otherwise I'd be sorted. I think I'm going to try and bring some basics ( pan, plate, mug), then go from there.

Rockporkchop

You should try this website:

http://www.shiply.com/

I have used it dozens of times and saved loads of money. You put your requirements in and will get quotes from drivers who will already be doing the journey and have spare room on their van/lorry.

millym

When I moved a couple of years ago, I sent all my stuff to my new place using parcel2go. Worked out a lot cheaper than a man and van. For bigger items like Tvs etc, I sold mine on ebay then bought replacements locally. Made a profit from this which more than covered the cost of shipping my other stuff